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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23863648">Healing</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/mothra_leo/pseuds/mothra_leo'>mothra_leo</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Laid to Rest (2009)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Bad Puns, Chromeskull is his own warning, Cuddling, Disfiguration, F/M, Major Character Injury, Set early in LTR2, Vaginal Sex, puns</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 00:12:32</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,752</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23863648</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/mothra_leo/pseuds/mothra_leo</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The authorities are aware of the operation, and Chromeskull has been out of action for a while. Spann thinks things are getting back on track, but she's worried about Jesse.<br/>She'd be moreso, if the sadist would stop texting her puns for kicks, that is.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Chromeskull/Spann, Jesse Cromeans/Spann</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Healing</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Preston says the daily business of the operation is boring. Spann thinks he doesn't get it. Planning the logistics of something that cannot operate honestly, dare not allow discovery, and constantly threatens itself with exposure is nerve-wracking. It's a knife-edge, and Spann enjoys the game.</p><p>Now that they've lost the funeral home, and a witness, things are shakier. Spann is updating her options for possible new operation sites when her phone buzzes.</p><p>The fabricators look up, realize it was her phone, and look quickly away. They know who it is.</p><p>She keeps her expression carefully schooled. After all; everyone knows that the boss is a double-edged blade. Spann takes her phone out of her pocket, and unlocks it.</p><p>
  <b>I'VE BEEN THINKING OF FINDING A CLAUSTROPHOBIC FISHY.</b>
</p><p>It's sweet that he's picked up on the term; but Spann knows what this is. She tenses muscles in the roof of her mouth and takes a long inhale.</p><p>Exhale.</p><p>
  <b>THEY ONLY THINK WELL OUTSIDE THE BOX.</b>
</p><p>She closes her eyes, almost losing the battle not to smile, and then the amusement passes.</p><p>Goddamn it, Jesse, she thinks. Is this really how you're coping?</p><p>But Jesse knows what he's doing, the troll. The only reason she's not grinning like an idiot is her own pride and the fact that she just cannot break the professional façade in front of the techs. Jesse absolutely wants to see how far he can push that composure of hers. Sadist.</p><p>The techs think that it's an unenviable position that she occupies. (Sure, some of that is because <em>certain parties</em> will not shut up about how much “trouble” Jesse is, but some of it is also the time he lifted her up bodily and landed her across the workshop in an open casket—they all think she might kick the bucket at Chromeskull's hands anytime now. Intimacy is no guarantee of safety with him, after all.)</p><p>Suckers, she thinks.</p><p><em>I can always put one on the list, sir,</em> she texts back. <em>How are you feeling?</em></p><p>He's been out for the past twelve hours, visiting his family. She didn't see him come back, but it wouldn't be out of character for him to suddenly appear in the upstairs suite. The sudden obligation hadn't helped with his return to the field, but Spann was making it work. She had almost been glad for the reprieve, because it let her accumulate more data on whatever the hell Preston was trying to do.</p><p><b>UNPLEASANT.</b>, her phone responds.</p><p>Navigating Jesse's pain and recovery has been difficult. She knows he's saving a lot of it to take out on Princess; but there's also a highly paid therapist from a distant corner of the world who's trying to help Jesse deal with the loss of his looks.</p><p>It doesn't sound like the home visit went well, and Spann spares a moment of annoyance that Jesse has to put up with that. She might be biased, of course. But his happiness comes first.</p><p><em>I can help you relax tonight, if you like</em>, she types. <em>I'll bring up takeout?</em></p><p>
  <b>11:15. SUSHI.</b>
</p><p> </p><p>He's been sticking to the upstairs suite a lot lately. Spann pulls out the takeout, spares amusement at the mundanity of the act, and checks her suit before she enters the apartment.</p><p>Three keycards later, she finds an empty living area.</p><p>“Good evening, sir,” she says, just one side of loud. “I've got your dinner.”</p><p>She walks deeper into the room, setting the plastic bags on a table. “Let me know if I can get you anything else?'</p><p>A leaden hand lays on her shoulder. Spann stiffens, but she doesn't yelp.</p><p>“Hello, sir,” she says. Then, suddenly she can hear him breathe behind her; after all, he's revealed himself. He doesn't need to be stealthy now.</p><p>He turns her around, his strength undeniable, and backs her against the edge of the table. Chromeskull is, as always, so magnificently tall; but right now Spann can see a fingerprint on the silver mask and she remembers the purpose of her visit. No time to get lost in him yet. She's here to cheer him up.</p><p>“Would you like to eat first, sir?” she says.</p><p> </p><p>Now that Spann's there, in his rooms where he can do anything he likes instead of just spamming her with puns, Jesse has other interests.</p><p><em>She</em> likes him. She <em>wants</em> him there.</p><p>“Bedroom,” he signs. He watches Spann's reaction; a near glance back at the food (yes, it will spoil) and then immediate interest in where <em>bedroom</em> is going. He eases off her, and snags the takeout. There's a fridge, it will be edible later, he has other plans now.</p><p> </p><p>She finds Jesse's bed unmade, and smooths it over with seconds to spare before he joins her in the bedroom. This time, she hears him coming, and she turns around. He reaches down and slips a broad hand under her suit jacket, sliding it off her shoulder in one smooth motion. Ohh; that's delightful.</p><p>He tugs it the rest of the way off, pulling it away; the jacket goes somewhere else and Spann reaches up to unbutton her shirt. She's a button or two in when his hands rest on top of hers. She pauses, wondering what he's got in mind, and lets him take hold of the fabric instead-</p><p>He tears, and the fabric gives way, buttons fall, and her shirt's gone, too. The silk slips easily off her arms and only her bra is left. God, he's so strong.</p><p>The unfocused look on her face must be delicious. Chromeskull tilts his head, making an audible huff of amusement, and he lays warm hands on her bare skin. Spann shivers a little at the temperature contrast, but she watches the skull mask with interest.</p><p>“Do you like it, sir?” She says. “I got new things for you.”</p><p>Jesse likes black, of course, and somewhere she managed to find lingere lined with skull-pattern lace. She can be inventive later, when he feels more himself. The challenge here is to be thematic, but not tacky (except that Jesse doesn't seem to have a threshold for tacky, really, which surprises her), and she hopes she's done well.</p><p>He likes what he finds, apparently; he keeps going, unbelting her pants to find the thin leather belt attached to straps suspending her stockings, and the black lacey underwear that she thinks is cut just right.</p><p> </p><p>Did she wear this all day? He wonders, exploring her with his hands. Finding pretty things like that under Spann's sharply business-attire suit is pleasantly naughty. He knows what her private life is like otherwise. No one gets this close to Spann, and she's capable of enforcing that. But for him? Well; she's making a genuine effort.</p><p> </p><p>He pulls her onto the bed. He doesn't bother taking his own clothes off; there's a process to getting intimate with Jesse, and part of that is letting him control the pace. He does get his shoes off, and tonight he lays back, pulling Spann on top of him.</p><p>That's new. She settles there, legs astride him, her weight resting on his hips. She positions herself perhaps teasingly, settled just-not-quite where the pressure might be enough to get him off.</p><p>Then, he sighs, reaches up to his face, and starts tugging the mask off.</p><p>It's easier than it used to be. He's had to start using gentler adhesive. The new skin is still thin in places, and irritable. He sets the mask on the nighttable, and looks up at her. Not Chromeskull, not right now. Merely Jesse; a man; not one wearing the mask of respectable-CEO-with-a-career-and-family; but a man grieving for the loss of part of himself. He's as naked now as if he'd been nude already.</p><p>“Hello, sir,” Spann says. The fresh greeting seems right. She feels so many things; it hurts seeing Jesse hurting, she knows it's been painful and difficult for him- but he's vulnerable; he's willing to show her, to share with her, and even now he's looking to her for comfort. “You almost got me today, sir,” she notes. “But you still haven't made me laugh in front of the crew.” she says with a teasing smile. It's a challenge, if casual; he'll certainly try again.</p><p>“One day,” he signs. He settles a palm against her cheek. She nuzzles it.</p><p> </p><p>She leans her head against his palm, eyes half-closed in distraction. His hand is large enough that his fingers rest in her hair, curving around her skull, while his thumb strays close to the orbit of her eye.</p><p>Normally, he would have attacked his prey by now.</p><p>Violent thoughts are second nature to Jesse. It wouldn't take much pressure to grip and push his thumb in. Spann's eye would burst; perhaps slip out of its socket. The strength of his grip alone might hold her there while he watched.</p><p>Would she fight it? Cry out? Struggle, her weight shifting pleasantly on his hips? That composure of hers had to break eventually. He liked sending her funny things, but pain was a great motivator.</p><p>Would he end her, then? Leave her body on the bed. Lean over it and kiss her. Not with the mask. With his own lips.</p><p>An indulgence for her memory? Or for himself?</p><p>Her eyes find his. Does he really want to do that, though? Jesse thinks.</p><p>Does she know I could do that?</p><p>Does she know I'm thinking it?</p><p>“I'd like to do something you <em>like</em>,” she says, her voice breathy. “Let me try to please you?” she murmurs. Her voice is dripping with distraction. She gets off so much on him.</p><p>“Why?” He asks her silently.</p><p>She smiles, watching him fondly. “Because I'm happy you're back, sir. I'm happy to be here.” She's breathless.</p><p>He feels better with Spann there. And so, curious, he lets her act. His hand moves idly to her waist, and it sits there. It's permission, as Jesse communicates it, and Spann knows him well enough by now to nod in reply.</p><p>Honestly, none of this is working out the way Jesse expected. He thought it would be quick. Easy. He'd fuck her, and maybe feel a little better. Spann is so very willing to dress up nicely for him in bed, and normally, Jesse associates that with the sort of people he tends to murder.</p><p>Instead, somehow, he's letting her just... just be here with him.</p><p>She leans low over him, eyes flicking across the ruin as she takes him in. She kisses his neck, first. He flinches when her lips, soft on his skin, come close to scar tissue. It's almost imperceptible, but he knows the tensing for what it is.</p><p>“Shh,” she whispers. She notices it too. Impressive, really. “Let me love on you.” He feels her smile. Love on him? Why bother saying-</p><p>But she does; pressing kisses feather-light, carefully, and deliberately. She kisses his cheek, his distorted eyelid, his brow. Is it gentleness? Care for the abused skin? Or is it exploration?</p><p>Even before, he so rarely let someone close enough to do things like this, and Jesse finds himself more than excited by the simple closeness of his-</p><p>Not prey. No; Spann is quickly becoming a lover. He never planned on that; but he isn't complaining. Spann is <em>loving on him</em>, intensely, and with no hint of disgust.</p><p>“I know you could fuck me up,” she says quietly. She keeps kissing over him between her sentences, nuzzling, luxuriant. “You're magnificent.” Kiss. “It turns me on.” Kiss. “Knowing that.”</p><p>He listens idly. She does know he's not safe. She's sticking her metaphorical neck out anyway. He expects her to make a mistake; to say something that irks him, that gives him the impulse to flip her over and enjoy himself at his own leisure. But she doesn't say empty things. She doesn't tell him she's <em>sorry</em> or that he's <em>still handsome</em>. She's honest. He wants more. Her attentions feel <em>good</em>-</p><p>There's a warmth in him now, and for all his well-oiled brutality, Jesse realizes he likes what she's doing.</p><p>Instead of turning the tables, he moves the hand that's on her hip to the back of her head, and initiates a kiss on what passes for his lips. Spann settles into it softly and easily; her tongue wet, velvet, and eager. He knows part of his tongue feels strange. That's scarred, too.</p><p>But she's moaning softly in her throat, and he exhales shudderingly when he allows Spann to come up for air and their eyes meet.</p><p>On second thought: enough restraint. He needs her.</p><p>He smirks-ignoring the pull of skin- and latches on around her waist. She gasps as he rolls them both over and lands her underneath him.</p><p>“Oh yes,” Jesse signs. There's just enough space between them for him to prop himself up and tell her. “Mine.”</p><p> </p><p>The words pull away all chance Spann has of keeping her mind working right. “Please?” She asks- no. Begs. She forgets even 'sir'. “Oh please,” she says, faintly appreciating her own desperation. But he kisses her again, this time with his strength bearing down, and his hands fumbling at his belt, and Spann has no desire to analyze anything at all.</p><p> </p><p>He likes making her wait; slowing down and pulling back when she's getting too heated. He can keep it up for that sort of thing, apparently, and Jesse's strong enough that he can just pin her down and make her remain frustrated. She loves it. By the fourth time he makes her slip back from the edge, Spann's physically exhausted.</p><p>She still finds it in her somewhere to mutter, “you son of a bitch,” her throat dry.</p><p>He laughs silently and rewards her defiance with a solid bite. Spann moans and clutches at him. This time, he doesn't stop, and they both get to sate their desires.</p><p> </p><p>Spann wakes up warm, still worn out, and pleasantly curled up against Jesse's side. The first time she'd come to his apartment, she wouldn't have been surprised if he'd asked her to leave after they were done. For whatever reason, Jesse doesn't seem to mind having her stay. He needs company now especially, she considers. She's glad she's good for him.</p><p>She's also nothing if not prepared, so she has a change of clothes ready to go. Spann gets up to start going through her preparations for the day. Jesse takes his time, reading things on his computer over coffee.</p><p>It's comfortable. Whatever they are, the two of them, she loves it.</p><p>When she's ready to go, she reluctantly accepts the need to get on with business.</p><p>“I've got candidate sites for you to choose from, sir,” she says. They aren't one hundred percent sure he'll have to relocate the operation, but it's becoming increasingly likely. “Let me know what your preference is.”</p><p>He nods and reaches for his phone.</p><p><b>I LIKE CALIFORNIA</b>, it states aloud. <b>GET ME SAN FRAN AND LA IN DETAIL.</b></p><p>“Yes, sir,” Spann acknowledges, but Jesse's still typing rapidly.</p><p><b>I WAS GOING TO STOP AT ONE.</b>, the bland female voice reads, slightly ominously. <b>BUT PUN THING LEAD TO ANOTHER.</b></p><p>Maybe it's the voice; maybe it's just that she's let her guard down; but either way, Spann can't help it. She descends into giggles, quiet, yes, but laughter all the same. Thank god Preston isn't here, she thinks.</p><p>Jesse tilts his head and smiles.</p><p>
  <b>GOT YOU.</b>
</p><p>
  <b>: ).</b>
</p><p>She grins despite herself. Damn it, Spann thinks. “You win,” she says, with a hint of asperity. Then she pauses, mouth half-closed, and looks up at him in utter delight. “I'm glad you saved that for when we were alone, sir,” she says.</p><p> </p><p>Her eyes are sparkling wickedly, and Jesse realizes she's got something good.</p><p>“If Preston saw that, I'd have lost face.”</p><p> </p><p>His laughter is alarming, because Spann isn't sure that's what it is at first, but he claps his hand on her back and pulls her into a hug. He is laughing; cackling, maybe, his breath coming in voiceless huffs. For a moment, he just hugs her, and she hugs him.</p><p>Then he lets go, patting her on the back in approval, pushing her gently towards the door. She waves goodbye silently at him as she leaves.</p><p>In the hallway, she schools her expression.</p><p>After all; it wouldn't do to let anything slip. It's fine if someone sees her coming down this early; but it wouldn't to do give hints of her mirth.</p><p>She'll make sure things are perfect for Jesse.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I hope this works at all tonally (and that the POV switches work). I think these two are actually becoming healthier people as time goes on. I mean, for a serial killer villain and his overly-into-it partner in crime.</p><p>I think that the idea of Jesse, at a point where he's a little downcast, forgetting to properly polish his mask and leaving fingerprints on it is weirdly hilarious.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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